Up next: Elsinore faces Cerritos Valley Christian in the second round Tuesday.

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WILDOMAR 
The Elsinore High girls soccer team was in uncharted waters Thursday.

A week after winning a share of the first league title in the sport in school history, the Tigers found themselves as the favored team entering the first round of the CIF Southern Section Division V playoffs.

They didn’t miss a beat.

Senior Katie Rodriguez and sophomore Olivia Snead scored goals in the second half, and Elsinore delivered a solid performance in a 2-0 victory over Palm Desert to advance to the second round Tuesday.

“This feels amazing,” Rodriguez said. “There were definitely some nerves out there, but we felt confident. This is the best team that we have had in my four years here.

“We really wanted to come out here today and prove that we deserved to win league and that it wasn’t just a fluke. We were able to do that.”

Elsinore (12-7-3), which won seven games in the Sunbelt League this season en route to sharing the league championship with Temescal Canyon, put pressure on Palm Desert (12-11-2) from the opening kickoff and controlled the majority of the game’s possession.

The Tigers fired eight shots in the first half, four of them on goal, but were unable to find the back of the net.

“My center midfielder, Rocio Rodriguez, told me at halftime not to worry, that we were going to score,” Elsinore coach Ryan Stevens said, laughing. “I don’t know if I was as optimistic, because the quality of the chances that we had in that first half was not great.

“That was the heart of these girls, though; they just kept pushing.”

That patience and belief paid off in the 45th minute, when Snead found Rodriguez on the wing. The senior didn’t waste the opportunity, using her speed to dribble deep into the box and blast a shot past the Palm Desert goalkeeper.

The duo hooked up again with 6 minutes remaining, this time with Rodriguez feeding a pass into the box to an unmarked Snead.

Snead was held on the breakaway attempt and was awarded a penalty kick, which she confidently converted.

“They are both very fast and love to work the give-and-go to each other,” Stevens said.

Despite the team’s lack of playoff experience, Rodriguez believes it has the ability to accomplish more.

“I think we are going to rise to the occasion and surprise some people,” Rodriguez said.